Suzy Mellen serves on the California State Prison Team as the VP of Ministry Development. Suzy is living proof that whom the Son sets free is free indeed. (John 8:36)
Suzy says,
Before I went to prison I did not have a relationship with Jesus. I did not even know Jesus was my first love. I was lost, broken, and my life was spinning out of control.
In August of 1997, I asked God for a vacation. Two weeks later, on August 25, I was arrested for First Degree Murder. A few weeks later I thought, ‘God, this is not the vacation I asked for.’After time had gone by, I realized that God had rescued me from the pits of hell I had been living in. I thought prison was my Prison of Hell, but little did I know. After getting saved in the county jail I received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. I was transformed and redeemed by the Blood of the Lamb.
From the very beginning, I forgave my enemies because I knew God loved me. My earthly father loved me, too. During my time in prison, the faithful women of Aglow Prison Ministry (APM) taught me the love of Jesus and the Word of God and how the Holy Spirit lives in me.
After seventeen years I went back to court and I really believed that would never have happened if it had not been for Earlene Leming, long-time leader in Aglow, and the APM team speaking into my life, telling me to believe and trust God and to have faith in Jesus and that God could reverse my death sentence.
The first death sentence was I was going to go to hell. I got delivered from hell when I gave my life to Jesus. And then I got delivered from my second death sentence on 10/10/14 when the judge said, ‘You are innocent, Ms. Mellon.’
Surrender and forgiveness are the keys to freedom. When I looked at Jesus on the Cross saying “Father forgive them, for they do not know what they do,” how could I not forgive my enemies when Jesus forgave me and desires to forgive everyone?
When you know that Jesus died on the Cross for our sins as a substitute for us so that we may be forgiven, and then you say you can’t forgive yourself and others; what you are saying is that what Jesus did on the Cross wasn’t enough. What Jesus did is enough.”
There are many around you who have not heard the powerful news about the Love of God. His Love changes everything. Be a conduit of His Love to all you meet.